City bans "seductive" marriage ads

A couple walks past an advertisement for a wedding dress company at the Seventh China International Wedding Photo Equipment Exhibition in Shanghai, February 24, 2005. A northern Chinese city has banned the use of ''seductive'' words like ''foxy lady,'' ''handsome guy'' and ''moneybags'' in marriage advertisements in a bid to stamp out fraud, domestic media reported Tuesday.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A northern Chinese city has banned the use of "seductive" words like "foxy lady," "handsome guy" and "moneybags" in marriage advertisements in a bid to stamp out fraud, domestic media reported Tuesday.

Many Chinese people still go to marriage brokers to arrange suitable life partners for their children, and often turn to adverts carried in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet.

But after a series of complaints from people who said they had been cheated -- although how was not explained -- Henan provincial capital Zhengzhou is reining in the industry, the Beijing News said.

From November 1, marriage brokers will need to have the content of their adverts approved by the city government and risk being banned for life if they snub the new rules, it added.

Promises to arrange marriages to foreigners are also banned, as are marriage adverts dressed up as solicitations to simply find friends or travel partners, the report said.